Climate change threatens the availability of water in the Colorado River basin and water managers need to take steps now to prepare, the director of the Water Resources Program at the University of New Mexico John Fleck and Brad Udall, the senior water and climate research scientist at the Colorado Water Institute at Colorado State […]
Severe Water Cuts Are Coming for Arizona. The Rest of the Southwest Is Next.
The restrictions are essential to keep the states from running dry, but vulnerable communities have already suffered from water scarcity for years.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
A member of the Navajo Nation fills water jugs at a public tap in New Mexico.
Two months ago, researchers at Utah State University estimated that Arizona, California, and Nevada would collectively have to cut their intake of Colorado River water by 40 percent over the next three decades due to drought. At a public meeting last Thursday, the Arizona Department of Water Resources confirmed the warnings: The cutbacks are coming, and soon.
How Does a State Use 40 Percent Less Water?
A recent study found that if the Colorado River drought continues, Arizona, California, and Nevada may have to cut their water usage by nearly half. Acceptance is the first step. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
A tall bleached “bathtub ring” can be seen on the rock around Lake Mead in 2015, where water levels have sunk lower and lower.
Arizona, California, and Nevada will need to cut their use of Colorado River water by nearly 40 percent by 2050. A study by researchers at Utah State University, which the
Arizona Daily Starreported this past Sunday, noted that Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming the Upper Basin states will have to reduce their usage, as well, though not by as much as those pulling water from the Lower Basin.